The Montreal Canadiens are shaping up to be one of the more interesting fantasy teams to sort through as the new season gets closer, and THN’s Yearbook has put some pretty bold numbers on the board for several of their biggest names.
At the top of the list is captain Nick Suzuki, who is projected to lead the Canadiens in scoring with 96 points. That would be a drop from the 101 points he posted last season, but it still keeps him firmly in elite territory. One 100-point season doesn’t automatically mean the next one will look the same, though Suzuki’s year-over-year growth has been steady enough to make another huge campaign feel very much within reach.
Cole Caufield comes next, and the Yearbook expects another big year from the winger. THN has him at 87 points, just shy of the career-best 88 he put up last season, and it projects 45 goals for him.
That would be a dip from the 51 he scored a year ago, which lines up with the reality that 50-goal seasons are hard to stack back-to-back. Guy Lafleur did it six seasons in a row, but he’s the outlier.
Steve Shutt once hit 60 and never topped 49 again after that.
Lane Hutson is slotted third in THN’s Canadiens scoring outlook. The blueliner is projected for 74 points after finishing with 78 in his sophomore season.
There’s also a reason to think he could push even higher this time, since he won’t have a contract negotiation hanging over him the way he did last season. An 80-point season wouldn’t be out of the question.
Ivan Demidov is next, and the Yearbook sees a notable jump coming for the second-year winger. After producing 62 points last season, he’s forecast for 73 this year.
Montreal still hasn’t added a top-six piece capable of fully unlocking his upside, so that projection feels reasonable. For now, he’s expected to skate with Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen again, a setup that should help with familiarity even if those two aren’t the ideal fit in the right spots.
Juraj Slafkovsky rounds out the group of Canadiens projected to clear 60 points, with THN putting him at 68. That would be a five-point drop from last season, but that doesn’t match the way he’s being viewed here.
In his fifth NHL season, the power forward looks ready to build on what he learned last year, when he showed he can be more than just a complement to the Suzuki-Caufield duo if he plays the right way. The expectation is that he starts strong and produces steadily.
THN’s projections also give fantasy managers a reason to pay attention in goal. Jakub Dobes is forecast for 31 wins, up from the 29 he had last season. Jacob Fowler is listed at 17 wins, while Samuel Montembeault does not have a projection.
In Other News...
Nick Suzuki Is Forcing A Canadiens Debate The NHL Still Ignores
Nick Suzukis rise has put the Canadiens in an interesting place heading into the new season. After topping the club in points and assists and reaching the 100-point mark for the first time in his NHL career last year, he also added a Frank J. Selke Trophy to a resume that keeps getting harder to ignore. He was among the leagues best in several statistical categories, represented Canada at the Olympics and now sits in the fifth year of his eight-year contract, which only sharpens the sense that Montreal has its captain locked in for the long haul.
What makes the conversation linger is how far Suzukis game has come and how little it still seems to shift the wider NHL discussion around him. The Canadiens have been able to watch him grow into a centerpiece who impacts the game at both ends, yet his national profile still feels a step behind the production and the hardware. For Montreal, that gap is part of the intrigue now, because the debate around Suzuki is no longer about whether he belongs among the leagues top players, but how long it will take for everyone else to catch up. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Prospect Debate Is Heating Up For One Surprising Reason
The Canadiens prospect conversation got a little more interesting when the NHLs official site slotted Gleb Pugachyov ahead of Alexander Zharovsky on its latest organizational ranking. Pugachyov, taken 26th overall, fits the kind of sturdy power-forward mold teams often trust more readily, while Zharovsky has been drawing attention for his offensive touch and a strong recent run in the KHL.
For Montreal, the order says as much about projection as it does about production. Zharovsky may have the flashier scoring resume, but NHL.com appears to be weighing Pugachyovs broader safety net more heavily, which makes the gap between the two a useful snapshot of how different evaluators can see the same pool of talent very differently. [Read more 🡒]
Zachary Bolduc Is Pushing For A Bigger Canadiens Role Fast
Zachary Bolduc is wasting no time making his intentions clear as he settles into life with the Canadiens. The forward said he wants to earn a bigger role and more ice time by putting in the work at training camp, and hes keeping the focus on what he can control rather than trying to script his place in the lineup. For a Montreal team always sorting through its depth, that kind of approach fits the environment as much as the talent does.
Bolducs case for a larger opportunity starts with last season, when he put up 30 points in 78 games. Now the challenge is turning that production into trust, which is often the real currency in camp. He knows role decisions belong to the coach, but the message is pretty direct: if he keeps pushing, he wants to move up the depth chart and make it impossible to ignore him. [Read more 🡒]